Vampire
Vampires are supernatural creatures that feature heavily in the Evernight series. Vampires are immortal, undead creatures that must drink the blood of living creatures in order to survive. They are arch enemies with the wraiths, and also with Black Cross, an ancient group of vampire hunters. Physiology Vampires in Evernight are essentially immortal and do not age from when they're turned into a vampire (unless, like Bianca Olivier, they are a born vampire). A person is turned into a vampire if they are repeatedly fed on by a vampire, until they die; they will then be "reborn" as a vampire. Vampires look mostly human, but they have "retractable" fangs, which replace their lateral incisors on their upper jaw, and appear when they are feeding, or feeling scared or threatened. Bianca says that just before the fangs "slide out", she gets a "dull ache" in her jaw. Many vampires are also considered to be very attractive, with a person's beauty often increasing when they become a vampire. Due to being undead, vampire blood does not "flow" the same way a human's would; if they are cut, whilst blood will well up, it apparently will not "pulse" out, as they lack a heartbeat. Evidently though, vampires must have some form of blood flow to enable their muscles to function; additionally, male vampires are able to engage in sexual intercourse, which requires some kind of blood flow. Despite being able to have sexual intercourse, vampires are usually incapable of having children, as, being technically undead, they have " no life to give". However, it is possible for vampires to produce offspring via a magical ritual with wraiths - these vampires are known as 'born vampires', but there are very few of them. Contrary to the beliefs of Black Cross, vampires retain their memories and personalities after turning and do not automatically become immoral monsters. Many vampires are capable of compassion and empathy, and are not so very different to humans, though others are far more dangerous and cruel. Whilst vampires are capable of mental growth and development, being able to learn new things and have their personalities and worldviews shaped by their experiences over time, some aspects of a vampire's psyche remain unchanged from the moment of their death. Balthazar More in particular states that, despite living for many centuries and amassing great knowledge, deep down he still feels like a teenager (he having been nineteen when he was turned). Charity More, who was turned at fourteen, still exhibits traits of a young girl despite having lived as long as Balthazar (though some of this could be attributed to her mental instability) and many of the students at Evernight Academy (who are mostly vampires turned in their teens) exhibit adolescent behaviour and may even look up to vampires who were turned as adults, even if they are chronologically older than them. Powers and Abilities Vampires have superhuman strength, speed, agility and senses. They are immune to disease and they also heal quickly from injuries. They do not develop scars, unless they are staked. In Balthazar, it is stated that a few vampires can actually shapeshift into mist; however, this is a very rare ability, that can only be achieved by the oldest and most powerful vampires. A few vampires also have the ability to control human minds - whilst they are still aware of what is happening they are unable to resist and obey any command the vampire gives them. Like turning to mist, this is an exceedingly rare power, possessed only by the oldest vampires - the only vampire in the series who demonstrates this ability is Redgrave, who is mentioned as being over two thousand years old. A vampire's strength and power increases over time - usually, the older a vampire, the more powerful they are. A vampire who has recently consumed blood - particularly human blood - will also have a temporary increase to their power. Sires (vampires who have turned another person into a vampire) are able to enter the dreams of those they have sired and can manipulate their dreams and communicate with them. They are apparently able to do this across long distances, though it takes a great deal of energy and requires that the sire be sleeping as well. Some sires use this to torment their progeny, such as in the case of Lucas Ross and his sire, Charity, and Balthazar's sire Redgrave. Weaknesses The only way to permanently kill a vampire is to behead them or set them on fire. Staking a vampire only renders them unconscious, though they still look somewhat "dead" - removing a stake will allow a vampire to revive eventually. It is demonstrated that any sharp wooden object will work, including snapped off chair legs or branches. Fire is especially deadly to vampires, as it burns them much more quickly than humans and so is usually feared by them. Holy water burns a vampire's skin like acid, but only if it is real holy water; that is, water that has been blessed by someone with true faith in its power. Crossbow bolts can also hurt vampires; presumably, they can be used like stakes to knock a vampire unconscious. Wraiths can also hurt vampires by freezing parts of a vampire's body from the inside, though it does not kill them. When a vampire is killed, their body reverts to their true age; very old vampires crumble to dust, whereas fairly new vampires remain corpse-like. Vampires also have great difficulty in crossing running water; it makes them extremely uncomfortable. They also become uncomfortable and their powers are weakened if they are inside a church or are in the presence of a cross. Being stabbed with a stake that has been soaked in holy water also puts a vampire into a kind of permanent coma, which is just as good as killing them. Wraith blood also burns them, the same way holy water does, as shown when Lucas attempted to drink Bianca's blood in Afterlife. Bianca mentions on one occasion that vampires tend to feel the cold more than humans - though they apparently cannot die from hypothermia - and so it is not uncommon to see vampires wearing clothing suited to winter even in warmer weather. Sunlight apparently does not burn vampires and many vampires are seen going out during the day; however, they are naturally nocturnal and it is mentioned that they "tolerate" sunlight, indicating they prefer not go out into direct sunlight if they can help it. Sunlight can, however, become lethal to vampires if they go out in it after being starved of blood for an extended period, although what exactly would happen to such a vampire is never described in the novels. Diet Vampires have to drink blood to survive, either that of a human or an animal's. Without blood, they become very weak and they may blindly attack humans or animals in their desperation for blood; it is possible that going without blood for an extended period could actually kill a vampire. Their reflections also start to fade and they become more sensitive to sunlight; going out in sunlight whilst they are starving can be fatal to vampires. When a vampire drinks the blood of another vampire they can see some of their thoughts, emotions and memories. Drinking the blood of another vampire is considered to be one of the highest acts of intimacies, second only to sexual intercourse. Vampires do not need to kill to feed (though some do anyway). Some vampires choose to live primarily on animal blood, though it mentioned that human blood grants vampires more strength and that without human blood, their bodies and minds deteriorate. Balthazar specifically states that whilst he almost exclusively feeds on animal blood, he must occasionally consume human blood to prevent himself from "becoming a monster". Becoming a Vampire There are two ways of becoming a vampire; being born one or being sired. Almost all vampires are sired. A human who is bitten by a vampire and drained of blood, killing them, will rise from the dead as a vampire. A person who has been repeatedly bitten by a vampire and is then killed by another vampire (such as in the case of Lucas Ross) will also become a vampire. Apparently, all it can take is for a person to become a vampire is to have bitten at least once. Celia Olivier states that the 'dying state' is like falling asleep. If a person transitioning into a vampire is beheaded during this time, they will not rise as a vampire; presumably, immolating a person in transition before the process is completed will also prevent reanimation. Some people, such as Bianca Olivier, are born vampires. Born vampires are only part vampire, but develop more vampire traits as they reach puberty. They only become a full vampire once they bite and kill a person. Born vampires who don't take a life will eventually become sick and die, becoming a wraith. Born vampires are extremely rare; Bianca is referred to as a "miracle baby" by her parents and Mrs Bethany says that Bianca is only the third born vampire she's met since 1812. When a vampire is newly made, they are often disoriented and are also extremely hungry, attacking any human or animal nearby in their desperation for blood. This can obviously have tragic consequences, such as in Balthazar's case - as a newly made vampire, Balthazar attacked his younger sister Charity, draining her of blood and causing her to turn into a vampire, and Lucas nearly attacked his good friend Vic Woodson. Society and Lifestyle Vampires seem to have a loose kind of society set up. Some vampires live alone with their families, blending into human neighborhoods, such as the Oliviers. Others belong to groups of vampires, called "tribes" who travel from place to place, hunting humans. Other vampires gather in one place, to meet other vampires, find sanctuary and learn about the modern world. Evernight Academy is one such place. Most vampires (or at the very least, the Evernight vampires) simply want to be left alone and live in peace. A few, such as Charity's tribe, believe that humans are little more than a food source and they should hunt them, as not doing so is denying their natural instincts. Whilst some vampires revel in their immortality and superhuman abilities, others (like Balthazar) seem to despise it, viewing themselves as monsters and suffering from loneliness and isolation. Humans are generally not supposed to find out that vampires exist, presumably to protect the species and allow them to exist in peace, though there are some that do know, including vampire hunters like Black Cross, or humans that simply guessed, such as Vic Woodson. It seems that the vampires (or at least, the Evernight ones) do not mind too much if humans find out, as long as they do not pose a threat to their kind or reveal the secret to anyone else. History It is unknown how long vampires have existed or where they came from; however, it can be assumed they have around almost as long as humans have. One of the oldest known vampires, Redgrave, was born over two thousand years ago. From around the medieval period, vampires were persecuted by Black Cross - though their killing of vampires was perhaps justified in the cases of sadistic vampires who prey on humans, Black Cross was also known to target vampires that simply wished to live in peace. It is likely that human persecution is what lead to vampires attempting to conceal their existence from humankind by the modern age. It is mentioned that some vampires would proclaim themselves 'princes' and that different tribes or factions would wage war against each other for power and territory; however, after the death of the last vampire prince over a hundred years ago, there have been no more wars. Many vampires now seek to establish new vampire sanctuaries, with Evernight Academy being of the last sanctuaries, and seek a peaceful and civilised existence, though with the destruction of Evernight in Afterlife, it is possible that the more bloodthirsty vampires will start fighting amongst themselves once more. Notable Vampires * Adrian Olivier * Celia Olivier * Balthazar More * Charity More * Charlotte Bethany * Patrice Deveraux * Lucas Ross (temporarily) * Shepherd * Courtney Briganti * John Redgrave * Lorenzo de Aracena * Constantia * Bianca Olivier (born vampire, part human and part vampire; later becomes a wraith) Trivia * The official, scientific term for a creatures that subsists primarily on blood is "hemavore". In the natural world, notable hemavores include mosquistoes, leeches and vampire bats (who are named after the vampire of folklore). * Traditionally, vampires have fangs on their canine teeth rather than their incisors (although in the earliest vampire myths, they had no fangs at all). Vampires whose fangs are on their incisors is a more recent trait in popular culture; other works of fiction where vampires have fangs on their incisors include The Lost Boys (1987) and True Blood (2008 - 2014). Category:Species Category:Undead